Educational aims
To guide students to use the historical method to interpret the relationship between interest groups and official power under British rule, ask them the following opening question:
What was the relationship between official power and interest groups under British rule?
Then guide them to:
• understand that the change of mother country under British rule led to a new power relationship between official power and interest groups
• understand that interest groups often challenged the authority of the state and struggled to win recognition for their interests during this period
• formulate a clear hypothesis in answer to the opening question for this part of LES 1.

So that students can interpret the relationship between interest groups and official power under British rule, guide them to:
• become aware of the fact that the colonial state was still an authoritarian political system despite the change in empire
• understand the structure of the political system in the new British colony
• understand that contrary to the preceding historical period, inhabitants of the province of Québec held some freedoms which allowed them to speak up for their interests and oppose authority, among other things
• take note that under British rule, as under the French régime, the state possessed means of control to ensure order in the colony.
At the end of this lesson, students should have grasped the following aspects:
• in 1763 with the Royal Proclamation, an authoritarian, non-democratic political regime was established, similar to that of New France
• even though there was no Legislative Assembly, colonists enjoyed new freedoms: henceforth, they could make themselves heard through newspapers and petitions, and could form associations

Program elements
used and suggested evaluation
SSC 2 (Application)
Key features:
– Establishes the factual basis of social phenomena
– Explains social phenomena
Concept: Power
Technique: Interpreting and making time lines

Educational aims
So that students can further interpret the relationship between interest groups and official power under British rule, guide them to:
• understand that to win the support of the Canadiens and secure their loyalty, the British state was forced to make substantial concessions to the Canadien nobility and members of the Catholic clergy
• become aware of the fact that this conciliatory policy, which was aimed at French Canadians, offended the British colonists and bourgeoisie living in the province
• understand that to make gains and obtain a House of Assembly, subjects of British origin had to ally themselves with the French-Canadian majority
• understand the main territorial and political changes brought about by the 1791 Constitutional Act
• understand the structure of the political system established by the Constitutional Act
• understand that even though the mother country granted the colony’s citizens a House of Assembly, power remained in the hands of the governor and the state
• understand that the war between the British empire and France influenced the colonial state’s actions
At the end of this lesson, students should have grasped the following aspects:
• the British colonial state could rely on support from Aboriginal peoples, the Canadien nobility and the Catholic clergy
• the British and Canadien bourgeoisie challenged the existing political regime
• with the 1791 Constitutional Act, London granted the colony a Legislative Assembly but divided Québec into two colonies: Upper and Lower Canada
• despite the existence of the Legislative Assembly, the people who controlled Lower Canada were still chosen by the mother country
• North America was not spared in wars between Great Britain and France during the period.

Educational aims
So that students can complete their interpretation of the relationship between interest groups and official power under British rule and answer the opening question for this period, guide them to:
• understand the context in which two political camps, the Parti canadien and the British Party, were formed
• understand that despite the fact that representatives from the Parti canadien formed a majority in the Legislative Assembly, they had much less influence on the state than their rivals in the British Party
• understand the Parti Canadien’s main demands and take note that the party’s position became more radical as it became the Parti patriote at the end of the 1820s
• become aware of the main resources and strategies used by the Parti canadien and the British Party to increase their respective influence in the Legislative Assembly
• understand the political context in which was sparked the revolutionary process involving Parti Patriote members
• become aware of the main measures established by the state to reassert its power and suppress the patriote movement
• become aware of the main constitutional measures established by the mother country to solve the crisis in Upper and Lower Canada.
At the end of this lesson, students should have grasped the following aspects:
• after 1791, the British and Canadien bourgeoisie split into two camps: the British Party and the Parti canadien
• at the end of the 1830s, rival camps in Lower Canada adopted new strategies which led to armed conflict
• members of the Parti canadien demanded that political institutions be reformed but the state did not consider their demands
• the Parti patriote sent a list of changes it was seeking to London, was unsuccessful in winning approval for these changes, and then organized large public gatherings so as to draw the people into action
• the colonial authorities forbade such gatherings and suppressed the Patriotes’ actions
• in 1840, London united Upper and Lower Canada with the Act of Union.
Program elements
used and suggested evaluation
Broad area of learning
Citizenship and Community Life
Focuses of development:
– Promotion of the rules of social conduct and democratic institutions
– Adoption of a culture of peace
SSC 2 (Application)
Key features:
– Establishes the factual basis of social phenomena
– Explains social phenomena
Concepts: Rights, State, Influence, Institution, Interest
Techniques: Interpreting a visual document; Interpreting a written document
Evaluation suggestion 6
SSC 2 Criteria:
– Rigour of his/her historical reasoning
– Critical distance